


Take Notice

by irllink



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Oneshot, Other, and lazy, kind of dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 14:47:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6055510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irllink/pseuds/irllink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noodle's voice has always been somewhat of a comfort for Russel, and extremely so for 2D. The same goes for that nasty bassist, although he would never admit it, or he just simply hasn't noticed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Notice

**Author's Note:**

> just a little something I wrote to de-stress, so I didn't put much effort into it. I hope you enjoy anyways!

Noodle's voice has always been somewhat of a comfort for Russel, and extremely so for 2D. The same goes for that nasty bassist, although he would never admit it, or he simply hasn't noticed what a godsend she is for their little ragtag family. 

2D worries the most. He's always been like that, but even more so now that Noodle is happy and safe in the band's arms again. He never wants anything bad to happen to her ever again, and so he has nightmares in her stead, hoping that if it means Noodle is safe, he's fine with waking up two to three times a night.  
Those rare nights where he sleeps peacefully, he might get dressed or even brush his teeth first, but usually his first action when his eyes open in the morning is to check if she's still there. 2D worries so much that he runs down the stairs only in his underwear (if it's the summer) or a pair of sweatpants (if it's the winter) and quietly opens her door, just to make sure.  
He remembers the year when she first arrived, how they would try to go against the language barrier and have conversations, and how they would dance, her little feet on 2D's big ones, as he held her hands and tried to walk. He remembers how she'd fall asleep in his room, on his bed, and he'd sigh and try to sleep on the floor.  
2D is a little slow, so he probably doesn't know that he scares easily, therefore he vows to protect her, no matter what. Skinny, bony Stuart, protecting an engineered weapon. 'Brilliant!' he thinks. 

Russel is less obvious, but he is just as- if not more- appreciative of her.  
He isn't as worried as poor 2D (whose hair probably will begin falling out if he keeps this up) because he knows she can handle herself. He's seen it too many times to count. When she, as a preteen, cleansed Kong Studios of everything unwanted that was residing there, or when she wrote the most successful Gorillaz album (which Murdoc tried to take credit for, of course), or hell, even the first moment they met. She burst out of that FedEx box like nothing ever happened, and on top of that, ripped out a guitar solo! God only knows how long it took that crate to get to England all the way from Japan.  
Russel has so much to be thankful for from her, and he damn well knows it. When Del left and he had that awful meltdown, Noodle had called him up to let him know the band was getting back together- to let him know she needed him, not only for the drum tracks, but as her friend. Russ fondly remembers how they used to have rap battles when Murdoc was down in his Winnebago, 2D asleep, with her thick accent making it hard for him to tell if she was actually rapping or just making noise. He broke into laughter when it happened, and he still laughs at the memory.  
And...when he had hit rock bottom, when he had written his suicide note and leaped into the ocean, who did he find when he swallowed radioactive waste (on accident, of course) and grew taller than a building? Noodle, soaked to the bone, smudged lipstick, floating around in a little inflatable raft in the middle of the ocean.  
He loves her more than the world itself, and he has so many reasons to justify that. 

On a certain night, Noodle stays awake much later than she usually does. In fact, she doesn't sleep at all. She climbs out her window and up onto the roof and watches the sun peek over the horizon.  
"What're you doing up so early, love?" She doesn't take her eyes off the sky; she knows it's Murdoc.  
He struggles with it, but he manages to get out his own window and work his way up to the roof. He sits by her, out of breath, and whistles. He smells like cheap beer and cigarettes and sex (with who?), but Noodle doesn't move. She doesn't turn her head and meet his eyes; she doesn't speak at first.  
"Couldn't sleep." she finally replies, her accent faint but existing, like an ember in the fireplace. She brushes a piece of hair out of her eyes and continues to look ahead.  
"Cigarette?"  
"Nah." She only smokes with 2D.  
"Suit yourself, fortune cookie." He lights one for himself.  
Noodle feels awkward and uncomfortable. Her and Murdoc's relationship has been understandably complicated after he told her bandmates she was dead and replaced her with some hunk of metal, some robot in her likeness. 2D had asked her if she regretted not letting it kill the old man, but Noodle doesn't hold grudges. She is not a bitter person, and in fact, she isn't even angry with Murdoc. She just doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know what she wants to say.  
After several useless comments from Murdoc, they sit in silence on the roof, letting the sun rise in the sky above them.  
"Hey, Muds."  
"Mm."  
"I've been wondering for awhile, but why a robot? Why'd you replace me?"  
Murdoc sits up, the button of his jeans poking into his gut.  
"Hmm...I suppose...the image isn't the same without a girl on the axe." he drawls.  
"Ah." is all she replies.  
"That headache, 2D, couldn't stand not seeing your face, had lots of useless panics over it. Quite annoying." He looks over at her tiny frame, the only thing moving being her hair in the gentle wind. He might be abusive and downright horrid, but he's human. Deep, deep down, if you squint and look really hard, he PROBABLY feels a LITTLE bad about all the trouble he's caused her.  
Or, he hasn't even noticed. 

Noodle looks over at him, and they hold each other's gaze for what feels like forever. She reaches over and runs calloused fingertips through his bangs, and closes her eyes.

She pulls his hair hard.

He curses and hollers and stutters out, "What the bloody hell was that for?!" Noodle smiles and asks him when he's ever going to get a better haircut.  
That kicks off the rest of the day for the two of them. They argue and laugh and talk on the roof until the sun they watched rise starts to fall. 

Noodle's voice has always been somewhat of a comfort for Russel, and extremely so for 2D. The same goes for that nasty bassist, although he would never admit it, but at least he's finally noticed it.


End file.
